


Love never dies

by Soft_moonlight



Category: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Genre: After fifteen years, F/F, Unnamed Héloïse's daughter, quiet understanding, still in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25966717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soft_moonlight/pseuds/Soft_moonlight
Summary: Marianne had become a famous artist. Her paintings were sold in galleries in many countries. She opened classes to teach some young women and teenagers in several city.Sometimes she stayed in the city where Héloïse lived with her husband and her daughter. Marianne believe that she would never see Héloïse again after the concert, perhaps she never would. She never tried to find her.But fate had many doors ready to be touched.
Relationships: Héloïse/Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

In the beginning of the class, Marianne always greeted her students and asked them to continue their last week works. Then she walked slowly around them watching and giving instructions to improve their technique.

For one hour students worked quietly and seriously paying attention to their teachers advices. Madam Marianne was a gifted and prominent artist with many of her wonderful paintings displayed in galleries throughout the world. They were grateful to learn from her.

In the end of the class, the students would tidy their equipments and one by one said goodbye to her. Marianne would reply nicely as she was fond of her students. They were mostly soft manner teenagers, some were very talented, some were painting just for completing their education. 

Then after all of the students left, she would leave too strolling the streets to the house her friends asked her to stay during her time in their city. She lived in several city a long the year, mostly for the opening of her paintings exhibitions or for teaching invitations. But for other months of the year she would stay in her house at a quiet island to paint, to contemplating, and to rest.

That evening after her students left, she noticed a small handbag was scattered beside a chair where one of her students sat. She recognized it and looked at the street through out the window to find the student.

She had six pupils in this class. The class had been a few weeks. She knew her students were waited by their family's carriage in the end of the class. She got familiar with the carriages and which student it would take home.

She saw only one carriage left, as usual, the last carriage, which took this particular student. She decided to accosted it and returned this handbag. She locked the studio and walked approaching the carriage. 

She heard someone talking inside the carriage when she stood beside it. She knocked the door and it was opened. A teenager voice greeted her with surprise tone.

"Madam Marianne."

Marianne smiled and said, "You left this behind." She handed the handbag. 

The teenager sounded happy saying, "Thank you so much. I apologize to trouble you."

"It's fine," Marianne replied. 

"Madam, let me introduce you my mother. Lady Héloïse." The teenager said again.

Marianne startled to hear the name and stunned to see a woman sitting in another side af the carriage she wasn't aware of.

When they eyes met again after fifteen years separation, Marianne was sure that the world stopped breathing. The sounds wasn't echoing anymore. The heartbeat had ceased.

Only those pair of blue eyes were alive in her world.

And in the deep of those blue eyes she found the recognition of the same love they had share before. 

Happiness as sudden as an outbreak of earthquake was filling her heart, shaping her smile and radiating throughout her eyes and her face.

She was satisfied. Contented with this knowing.


	2. Chapter 2

Three years after they were parted, Héloïse found Marianne's painting in the gallery in the city she lived with her husband and her small daughter. She bought it and had it hanged in her drawing room.

She looked at the painting with the thirst in her heart. She drunk every side of the painting, scrutinized every stroke, and breathed every color with vivid imagination of Marianne working at this painting. 

Every year she would hunt for another painting by Marianne. Sometimes she couldn't get it. It had sold out.

She began to read more about Marianne works and activities. She knew Marianne's schedule when Marianne stayed in her city.

She found out the studio and the house Mariane worked and stayed but she never let Marianne knew. _For nothing she could give to her but sorrow, Héloïse thought. It's better for Marianne to forget about her._

Sometimes when Marianne walked back home from her studio, Héloïse was there inside her carriage watching her and longing for her.

It was her routine in the afternoon for several weeks until Marianne left. She would know it at the day she couldn't find her walking back at that street. Then she would take a deep and long breath and she would wait until the next year.

*

The daughter often watched her mother looking at the paintings for hours. She began to interest in those paintings too.

She asked her mother to let her learn how to paint. Her mother agreed and invited some artists to teach her.

She admired one particular artist whose paintings her mother adored so much. She wanted to learn from Madam Marianne, as the name was signed in those paintings. 

When she found out about the class Madam Marianne taught in their city, she asked her mother to enroll her there. Her mother said that she could join the class after she was fourteen. That age was required to attend to Madame Marianne's class. So she waited.

Then eventually she reached age fourteen. She was so happy when she knew that she could study in Madame Marianne's class.

Her mother took her and waited for her when she finished. Then they would talk inside the carriage. Usually she was the one who talked while her mother was staring somewhere at the street.

Since she was very young she got used with her mother sitting in the carriage without doing anything particular but staring at the street. She thought that her mother just enjoyed the view. She accompanied her in silent watching the street and the sky above until her mother decided to go back home.

That evening after class, she was telling her mother what she had learned that day when there was a knock at the carriage door. She opened it and surprised to find her teacher there returning her handbag. 

She thanked Madame Marianne and introduced her mother. Then she stopped talking realizing that both adults didn't listen at all. 

She was like witnessing something very important passing through between her mother and her teacher.

Then she saw what she never saw before, her mother's happiest smile. The happiness seemed magically erasing the line of sorrow in her mother's face. And her teacher's sad expression disappeared.

She felt happiness come to her heart too. She sat silently but smiling and trying to not disturb that crucial moment between these two adults. 

*

Héloïse sensing her daughter's happy smile became stirred from the hypnotizing moment, she lowered her head but couldn't stop smiling. 

Marianne felt like she was awake from a deep sleep, she blinked and lowered her head too.

The daughter feeling that both adults failed to find words began to talk saying, "I didn't realize that I lose this bag. I must have dropped it." Then she smiled politely looking at Marianne who tried to murmur something.

Marianne reached the door reluctantly and slowly closed it.

The daughter opened the curtain and said, "Goodbye, Madame."

Marianne smiled at her then lifted her eyes to see Héloïse. 

Héloïse still was looking at her with the smile.

Marianne stepped back waiting the carriage to go away. Héloïse was still in deep pleasure to meet Marianne this close, she didn't say anything. The carriage didn't move.

The daughter felt awkward but said nothing, only staring at the street in front of her waiting for something she wasn't sure what.

Finally Marianne walked leaving the carriage strolling back to her studio absentmindedly but then changed her direction to her house.

Only when she reached the street of her house, she saw the carriage moved.


	3. Chapter 3

At the next class with Héloïse's daughter, Marianne noticed Héloïse's carriage was at the street during the class. And the carriage didn't move until she reached the street of the house where she stayed. Héloïse couldn't see her at that street.

The daughter said nothing about her mother. Marianne didn't mention anything too. _What a perceptive child she was,_ Marianne thought. 

It happened again during next weeks of that season. Even after the class finished for that period, Marianne kept seeing Héloïse's carriage, sometimes twice a week.

How warm her heart each time she saw that carriage and a glimpse of Héloïse's figure. Héloïse was alone sitting inside. 

Marianne understood why Héloïse didn't come to see her. It's the same reason why she didn't come to see Héloïse. 

She smiled to the direction of the carriage when she started walking back to her house and she would turn her back to smile again when she reached the street where Héloïse couldn't see her.

They did this routine until Marianne had to leave. Marianne wondered if Héloïse knew about her leaving.

*

 _If she could manage, she would come every day to watch Marianne walking back to her house_ , Héloïse thought. But she had other things to tend to.

Héloïse felt like she lived the week just for seeing Marianne's smile and her figure walking at that street. Marianne knew she was there. Her heart exploded with warm and happiness each time Marianne smiled at her carriage.

She was grateful that her daughter didn't mention anything about her and Marianne's long hypnotic staring and their silent refusal to meet each other. Her daughter must feel something but wisely kept it silent. She seemed happy with her mother's happiness. 

Then one evening after Marianne disappeared at that street, a young boy knocked the carriage door and handed her a small parcel and a note. The boy left before she could ask him.

She opened the message. _'I am leaving the city tomorrow, until next year. Marianne._

Héloïse closed her eyes, missing Marianne already. She opened the parcel. It was a colorful painting in wooden frame. 

A painting of her carriage at that street surrounding with exact buildings and streets. Some people were there walking or standing. And Héloïse saw Marianne's figure in that painting walking toward her house. 

Héloïse smiled then laughed. _How she loved this woman._

*

The daughter found the painting when she came to her mother's drawing room at the next morning. She recognized her teacher's work. 

Perhaps years later she would understand what happened between her mother and her teacher. For now, she was just happy to see her mother's happy smiles.

*

 _The fate has many doors._ _As long as the death hasn't come yet, any possibility could happen._

 _Whichever door they decided to touch or leave untouched, w_ e _only could wish they were happy and contented knowing they both shared the same love._


End file.
